The fashion giant unveils plans to trace wood pulp used in its clothes to avoid buying from regions destroying forests or violating human rights.

A Ralph Lauren outlet store. The fashion giant has unveiled plans to ensure its supply chain has zero links to deforestation and slavery for the wood pulp used in its clothes. Image: Mike Mozart, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Rising cotton prices have boosted demand for wood-based fabrics such as viscose, rayon and modal, which increasingly involves clearing forests and taking land used by indigenous people, according to Rainforest Action Network (RAN).

Ralph Lauren is the latest in a growing number of fashion companies to pledge to investigate its supply chain to determine if it is using products from the most destructive regions and stop using those sources by the end of 2017, said RAN.

RAN’s “Out of Fashion” campaign to publicise the impacts of forest-based fabrics has called on major U.S. brands to adopt stringent, sustainable sourcing systems.

Ralph Lauren said it will publish its new sourcing guidelines as part of a broader initiative to ensure its raw materials are free of human and land rights abuses and are environmentally sustainable.

“This initiative demonstrates Ralph Lauren’s commitment to the environment with responsible and traceable sourcing, which we believe will create a positive impact on ecosystems and global communities,” Halide Alagoz, Ralph Lauren’s head of global sourcing, said in a statement on Friday.

Concerns over land rights, rainforests

Last year Stella McCartney partnered with environmental non-profit Canopy to encourage clothing companies to stop sourcing fabric from ancient and endangered forests.

RAN has targeted Abercrombie & Fitch, Michael Kors, Guess, Forever 21, Under Armour and Foot Locker to adopt similar policies. Abercrombie declined to comment, and the other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

Brihannala Morgan, RAN senior forest campaigner, said Ralph Lauren had no way to trace its wood pulp sources before adopting this policy which the environmental group helped develop.

“Ralph Lauren’s new policy sends a signal to producers in countries like Indonesia, where the production of pulp for fabrics has been devastating to indigenous and forest-dependent communities,” RAN said in a statement.

Production of wood pulp can involve clearing forests to build eucalyptus plantations, taking land traditionally used by indigenous communities, campaigners say.

Indonesia is a major producer of wood pulp and the world’s largest producer of palm oil, both of which campaigners say endanger the Southeast Asian nation’s rainforests.

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